The Courage Within
by Toony-Tornado
Summary: Ryan hated the fact that his mother dragged him all the way out in Africa while she was on a job, so far away from the life and friends he had. But after saving a seemingly ordinary monkey from a poachers snare, he found himself with the task of saving the world he never wanted to even be a part of.
1. Chapter 1

**Yaaay, my first Lion King fanfic!*happy dance***

**I hop you all enjoy the read:D:D:D**

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><p>"Ryan?" Kathrynne Morris called out from the door of her camper that stood right in the African Savannah. "Ryan, where are you?"<p>

She stepped out of the camper and walked out a little ways. A frustrated expression on her face when

"Ryan Andrew Morris! You better answer me!"

"Geeze, I'm -here-, there's no call for yelling!" a voice answered above her making her look up to see a 17-year-old boy with dark, chestnut brown hair and tired hazel eyes sitting up on a tree branch that hung directly over their camper.

"Young man, what have I told you about falling asleep out here?" Kathrynne asked, placing her hands on her hips as he lowered himself down from the branch, dangling a bit before dropping down before her. "There are dangerous animals roaming around, what if one decided to make a meal of you?"

"Then he better be prepared for the worst indigestion of his life." Ryan remarked, "Relax mom, weren't you the one who told me that the safest place to sleep was a tree if I'm out on the savannah?"

"That's only when you don't have metal walls to protect you." Kathrynne told him moving out of the way as he dropped back to the ground. "Now come on, help me set up a fire before I head out."

"I want you to keep this fire going all night, so be sure that you add enough wood and-"

"Geeze, mom, alright!" Ryan snapped. "I know how to start a freaking fire and keep it going!"

"Now stop patronizing me and go already, mustn't keep Doug or your 'precious' animals waiting." He added with a sour tone as he knelt down started to stack some wood in the fire pit.

"Lord, Ryan," Kathrynne started with an exasperated sigh. "Can't we get through one day together without you acting-"

"Like dad did?" he interrupted, shooting a look over his shoulder.

"I wasn't going to say that..." Kathrynne told him in a quiet voice. "Don't put words in my mouth."

"You probably weren't going to say it, but that doesn't mean you never think I'm acting like him he used to every time I do or say something you don't agree with." Ryan told her, taking out a black flip lid lighter that had a metal lion's head carving on the front and lighting up a bundle of dry grass before sticking it under the logs.

"…This is the reason why he left, you know." He added, angrily looking around at the African landscape.

"You're father made a choice, Ryan." Kathrynne said.

"Yeah, and so did you!" Her son retorted. "He may not have been the most perfect dad in the world, but he at least tried to put family first instead of work and a bunch of animals."

"At least I knew he loved me enough to make the effort."

"And you don't think I did?" Kathrynne asked

"Well, he was home a heck of a lot more than you ever were!"

Kathrynne just stood there; feeling a little numb at her sons biting words. And after a few moments, she mentally gave herself a kick and grabbed her bag, trying hard to keep herself together.

"Well, then I guess I'll be heading out now." She said, taking her keys off of her belt loop. "Once it get dark, go back in the camper and stay inside, don't come out for anything."

"I'll give you a call when I've made it to the sight."

She walked over to the jeep, but just when she opened the door, she hesitated, looking over towards Ryan who still had his back to her. She wanted to say something to him, but it felt as though her voice just couldn't handle it.

So with a single tear rolling down her face, she hopped up into the jeep and drove away.  
>Once Ryan finally got a flame to go, he gave a heavy sigh, standing up turning around to watch the jeep drive further and further away.<p>

"Man," he started in a regretful tone, plopping down in the camp chair, just watching the fire as it got bigger. Once again he let his temper go and run his mouth, he didn't mean to say that at all; what was he thinking?

"I went way too far this time…"

But even through his musings, it wasn't very long before Ryan suddenly started to feel himself drift off yet again and he relaxed deeper into chair. His eyes getting heavier and heavier before they finally closed.

Being in heat like this always made him so tired.

...

...

...

...

...

"REEEEEAGH!"

Ryan gasped at the sound of a loud scream, and looked around to see that night had fallen with the only light to be found within the full moon that shone above him and the still glowing embers of what was left of the fire.

"Shhhhh!" Ryan hissed as he jumped from the camp chair and grabbed a handful of dry grass and a few more logs and put them in the pit, sighing with relief when they started to catch fire.

"RARARAREEEEGH!" He looked out into the dark hills when he suddenly heard the scream again. It didn't sound like a person's voice, it was too animal like, maybe some sort of monkey.

But whatever it was, the racket it was making was going to attract some sort of larger predator at some point. So after he made sure that the fire would go strong until he came back out to check it, he folded up the chair and went straight to the camper.

But as soon as he opened the door and got one foot on the first step, he suddenly stopped and looked back towards the shadowy hills.

The poor thing, it sounded so frightened…

"No, no! Mom said to stay in the camper," he firmly said out loud, forcing himself to get inside.

He legs wouldn't move through and he again looked back out through the door. He couldn't help the thoughts of it being hurt or caught in a trap; it wouldn't have a fighting chance if a larger animal decided it wanted an easy meal.

And it sounded like it was nearby…

"RARARAOOooOH!"

Hearing that last scream finally did it.

"…What she doesn't know won't hurt her," Ryan said to himself as he put down the chair and gabbed a flashlight from a cupboard. He'd only go for just a quick look, and even if he didn't find it, his conscious wouldn't be able to tell him he didn't at least try.

Stepping back outside, he closed the door and turned on the flashlight. Watching as the beam shined a path through the darkness of the night, hesitating only for a moment.

"I'm such a moron," he muttered as he made himself walk.

...

...

...

...

When he shined the light on it, he could make out a small red body with a white chest and face and black fur on top of its head that made it look like it had a widows peek.  
>He recognized the species as a red-backed squirrel monkey.<p>

Noticing the light, the little monkey turned, giving a loud screech when it saw him. It tried to run away, but it suddenly jerked and fell over from something tugging on its arm.

Shining his light, Ryan noticed something glint, and looking closer, he saw that the poor animal was caught in a thin wire snare.

Ryan slowly walked over towards the frightened monkey, making it bared it teeth and chitter at him threateningly as it pulled away as far as the snare would allow.

"Easy, I'm not here to hurt you." Ryan said as he carefully got down to one knee before it. Thinking that the flashlight might also be scaring it, he slowly put it on the ground. The monkey look at it, then back t him multiple times; it stopped showing teeth, but it still looked very wary of him.

"It's okay little guy, I'm only here to help." Ryan assured.

He waited a few seconds, then he began to reach out to it, maybe if it saw that he was gentle, it would relax a little more. But when the little creature saw his hand coming closer, it let out a fearful coo that made Ryan pause for a moment, and he met its eyes with an earnest expression on his face.

"Trust me," Ryan said. "At least enough to help me get you out of here."

It made no other sound, and after Ryan was sure that it wasn't going to try and bite him, she closed the distance between his hand and its head.

The fur felt soft under his fingers, and he gentle stroked it in a comforting manner. The monkey looked like it actually didn't mind it.

"See, I'm nice." Ryan said, offering it a smile.

To his surprise, the monkey actually moved closer to him, keeping its eyes on his face for a moment before it slowly climbed into his lap, clutching his shirt with its little paws.

Taking advantage of the trust, Ryan took the arm that was caught and examined it carefully, cringing at the sight. The poor creature had struggled so much that the wire was buried deep in its flesh, making terrible looking cuts that crossed over each other.

It didn't look like it was bleed all that badly, but the sooner Ryan got it back to the camper, the fast he could dress it and keep it from getting worse.

"Stupid poachers, leaving these cowardly traps..." He commented, taking out a knife from his pocket. "Well, at least it was only a wire snare and not something else,"

Once he cut the strand, he gentle cradled the monkey in an arm and grabbed his flashlight, taking a quick look around to make sure that nothing was out there watching him before he hurried back to the safety of the camper.

...

...

"Hey, stop that, my fingers are still there!" Ryan said, moving his patients furry face away for the fifth time as it tried to nibbling at the bandages Ryan was dressing to its wrist. "This would go a lot fast if you'd just sit still, you know."

Once they made it back, Ryan had wasted no time working on the injury. It let him take the rest of the wire off of its wrist with hardly any problems other than screeching at him here and there because it hurt, it hated the antiseptic, and by the time Ryan had got out the bandages, it was just tired of being handled. But that was fine with Ryan, he was almost done any way.

"Annnd there we go." Ryan said, firmly fastening the bandage. "I'll leave you alone now."

The monkey eyed the white wrap on its wrist, sniffing it curiously, but it no longer tried to get it off and just looked over at Ryan with its large eyes.

"You can stay with me until my mom comes back," Ryan said with a small smile before placing a hand on its head and stroking its fur. "That way, I can keep an eye on your wound." And it would give him some company until she got back.

Plus, it could probably help him practice with an apology.

Music from the ring tone of his cell phone suddenly rang in the air, and he left the monkey on the small kitchen counter and went to the living quarters. But as he picked it up to see who was calling, he never noticed the little ape's eyes start to glow with a bright golden light.

He saw 'Mom' on the screen, she must have made to Paul and the others.

But just when he was about to flip it open, a loud 'BOOOOOOM!' suddenly exploded in his ears and he was knocked off his feet by a rush of air.

He hit the floor in a daze, but the sensation of powerful gusts of wind made him pull it together to try and find out what was going on; His eyes widening as he saw papers and books and all sorts of utensils flying around him as though he were trapped in the middle of tornado.

His thoughts going to the monkey, he looked over his should to see where it was, or if it was even all right.

But there it was right near its feet, looking indifferent to what was happening within the camper. But the strangest thing was, now it eyes, and even its body was glowing.  
>After a few seconds went by, it was like it's little body dissolved into light, and it swirled around the whole room until Ryan finally had to shield his eyes from the brightness.<p>

'Ryan Morris,'

He heard a deep and powerful voice say.

'You are worthy...'

"Worthy for what?!" Ryan cried, trying to squint through the light and find the owner of it. "Who are you?!

'I am Mufasa, one of the many great kings of the past.' It answered. 'I have seen strength and courage within your heart, and I have felt mercy and kindness from your hand.'

"What do you want?!" Ryan yelled over the roar of the wind.

'I have chosen you with a task.' The voice said. 'Find my son, and with him, help save my family.' The voice instructed as the gusts suddenly picked up, making Ryan lay down as he felt that he'd be swept away. 'For it is only you who will be able to lift the shadow that blankets their fate.'

A wave of voices suddenly began to fill his ears, animal voices.

He could make out the chattering of monkeys, the whiny of Zebra's, the trumpeting of an elephant, and other voices of animals that were too jumbled together for him to identify.  
>It seemed to never end, and hearing those voices all at once soon began to make his head hurt and his vision grow dark.<p>

He fell to the ground with exhaustion, and two large paws stepping before him made him look up to see a huge and regale looking Lion with golden fur and a thick red mane looking down at him with proud, amber colored eyes.

'Help my family.'

Ryan didn't know if it was his fading vision playing tricks on him, but the big cat seemed to be glowing, as if the sun itself was shining from his body.

The last thing Ryan heard was a loud and mighty Lion's roar before he finally passed out.

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><p><strong>Now kiddies, unless you want a freak tornado that makes animal sounds happening inside your camper, I highly suggest not picking up stray monkeys X)<strong>

**Let me know what you think guys.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Woot! second chapter is up!**

**Please enjoy the chapter every one!:D**

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><p>Ryan awoke with a gasp, and got to his feet so fast that he got dizzy and fell back down.<p>

As he sat there trying to wait for his motor skills to work again, he looked back and forth feeling confused and slightly scared to see that he was no longer in his camper, but out in the open somewhere in the middle of the savannah.

It was still kind of dark outside, but it was light enough for him to see that the camper was nowhere in sight, and none of the surroundings were familiar to him at all. But pretty soon he did find a familiar object laying a few feet away from him.

It was his water back pack that he bought before he came here with his mother.

Letting out a relived cry, he quickly crawled over to it and clutched it in his hands. It was about half full of water already, and when he opened it up he saw that he still had two large water bottles and two bags of beef jerky, well, one and a half bags as he already snacked on one of them.

Still it was better than having nothing.

He finally made himself get to his feet and he slung the back pack over his shoulders. He didn't have his compass with him, so he had to determine the general direction of where the camper was with the sun.

After he made up his mind, he quickly set out.

Ryan didn't know how long he had been walking, but judging by how much lighter it had become since he woke up, it at least had to be close to an half hour without so much as a glint of something metal. And already he could feel the air around growing hotter as the Africa sun rose higher and higher from the ground.

But along the way, he tried to wrap his mind around what happened last night. He decided that it was just too crazy to have really happened. it must have just been a crazy dream, glowing monkey, tornadoes in the middle of a camper, talking ghost Lions, he must have caught something that made him a little loopy.

Maybe some sort of bug bit him when he fell asleep outside and the toxin it had made him delirious. And in his poor state of mind he just grabbed whatever was closest to him and and just walked out in the middle of nowhere.

Because he'd never go anywhere without his compass if he had the choice.

He decided to stop for a moment to make a plan, and he reached around to take the hose from his water pack and take a few sips. He knew that he had to find somewhere to stay pretty soon if he still didn't find anything familiar, because he certainly did not want to be caught stranded out here with that sun without some form of shade.

"HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELP!"

Ryan chocked on his water at the suddenly scream, it sounded like someone was close by.

And about to be freaking killed!

"What's the matter?!" he called out, looking around to find the owner of the voice.

"Help me!" it yelled again, it sounded closer this time, and he could also hear someone else, actually, multiple voices laughing too.

"Follow my voice!" Ryan yelled, hopping a bit at he tried to look over the tall, golden grasses. And he suddenly noticed patches of the grass rustling as someone ran through them. Whoever it was must have been really small. "You're getting closer! Keep running forward!"

But instead of a person running out, it was just a little Meerkat.

"uh…" that was all Ryan could let out as he watched the small creature pant heavily, there must have been some mistake, was someone playing a joke on him?

The Meerkat looked up and met his eyes, and he instantly got a relieved expression on its terrified face. "Help me!" he cried as it ran towards him and jumped on his leg, it was the same voice as earlier. "They're gonna to eat me!"

Ryan felt his eyes nearly pop out of his head as he stared at the animal. "Did you just-"

Laughter cut him off and he looked up to see three hungry looking Hyena's stroll out from the grasses.

"Well, well, it's our lucky day, boys." The only female of the group announced. "Our little snack led us straight to breakfast."

Shock replaced by wariness, Ryan stared at them carefully. Hyenas didn't look like much, but he knew that they were bad news from the stories that his mother used to tell about them. Alone they only seemed like lowly scavengers, but if they were in a pack… even animals as fearsome as lions were known to be afraid of them.

"It's a little big, isn't it?" one of the males commented, eying Ryan with an unsure look.

"That only means there's more to eat." The other said with a grin. "It's got no claws and fangs, and no hooves to kick us with, so what can it do?"

"Oh I can do plenty!" Ryan said, looking down to see a thick branch lying near his feet. He quickly picked it up and displayed in a threatening stance. "I was the best batter in my baseball team!"

"What's a batter?" The female asked.

"What's baseball?" the male followed.

"Long story short, it means I can knock your heads from here to China if you don't back off!" Ryan growled, making the air whistle as he swung it down when one of them tried to get closer.

It giggled madly as it rejoined the other and soon the three of them were laughing as though he had done something more that was funny rather than threatening.

"Well would you listen to that, sounds like it has some fire, Shenzi."

"Hehehe, that's alright, Banzai" Shenzi said. "I love my meals with a little spice."

"Don't you Ed?"

The other male, who seemed to always have his tongue out, only answered with maniacal cackle before licking his chops and growling.

Ryan felt the little Meerkat cling tighter to his jeans when thy suddenly began to circle around them. And he just shrugged his shoulders and clutched the stick harder, looking, listening and waiting. He'd be sure to show them just how much 'spice' he had!

It seemed like hours went by as Ryan waited for an opportunity, but it finally came when the one they called 'Ed' let out a low snarl and sprang at him from the left.

Unfortunately for him, though, that was the side where Ryan always delivered his most powerful swings.

He hit him across his shoulder so hard that stick splintered, and the Hyena gave a loud yelp in pain, falling on the ground and limping from the sting he still felt.

Seeing this, Banzai was a little more careful in attacking, but it was hard to get close enough to bit with Ryan swinging the stick with every move he made.

Ryan suddenly cried out when he felt something hard hit him in the arm, and she looked over to see that Shenzi was kicking large stones at him with her hind feet. And she immediately followed with one after another until she fired one that got him right in the temple before he had the chance to even think to duck.

The force that it hit him was enough to make him nearly topple over as he dropped his only weapon and clutched at the painfully throbbing spot on his head. He couldn't even see straight.

"_AAAAAAAHHH_!" Ryan yelled when it felt like a bear trap had suddenly clamped down on his left thigh, piercing through his jeans and flesh as though they were made of paper.

Blinking through the pain, he saw that Banzai had taken advantage of his injury and took his chance, and Ryan could just feel the pressure from his jaws getting tighter and tighter.

The young man raised a fist, intending the punch the mongrel in the nose to make him let go, but Banzai suddenly released him before he could make a move.

He soon figured out why when both Shenzi and Ed came plowing into him.

Ryan let out a cry as he actually sailed through the air from the force he was hit, and he landed face first on ground a good distance away, hurt and winded.

The Meerkat, who still hung on until the moment Ryan went down, ran up and stopped near his face, "Hey! Get up!" He cried, slapping his cheek with his little paws. "They'll kill ya if you don't!"

And Ryan did try, but he was so disoriented that he couldn't get his legs to work. He flopped over on his back with a frustrated and pain filled hiss, and when he looked ahead, he saw that he was directly under a tree.

In the state he was in, there was no way he could climb up himself and stay there, but he could make sure that the Meerkat could.

He took the little animal in a firm grasp, ignoring the startled, "_Whoa!_" and flung him up as hard as he could. The Meerkat screamed the whole way up, but he landed safely on one of the branches, much to his surprise.

But that surprise was short lived when he glanced back down, worry etched all over his furry face as he watched Ryan slump over against the tree trunk, his head looking as though it was too heavy for him to even hold up.

"Hehehe, wow, that was the most fun I've had in ages!" Banzai laughed.

"Yeah, kinda made me feel a couple years younger," Shenzi agreed, "What about you, Ed?"

"Hehehe, Hahahahahehe!"

"Well, now that fun time's officially over," Shenzi started, "Let's chow down."

Ryan weakly tried to push against the trunk to get to his feet and make a run for it, but it was no use, he hit his head too hard and he wouldn't be able to keep his eyes open much longer.

Great. He hadn't even been awake for even a single hour and he was gonna black out again already and become kibble for a mangy pack of cowardly scavengers.

Ryan tensed and then looked away when they crouched low to the ground, he could hear them growling and giggling with anticipation at the thought of having a large meal, but they were cut short by startled gasps as a loud and thundering roar suddenly rang though the air.

Pretty soon, and his ears were filled with snarls, growls and yelps of pain.

And slowly, he opened his eyes to see several large, cream furred Lionesses moving in a scramble as they fought with the tree Hyenas, fearsome snarls upon their muzzles as the frightened canines desperately tried to escape.

Pretty soon, they decided that they had enough punishment and they just let the three of them run off with their tails between their legs.

Whatever relief Ryan felt at the thought of being saved from becoming food flitted away when his clouded mind finally registered that his rescuers where_ Lions_. The Lionesses only looked at him for a moment before they suddenly parted and a large male lion walked towards him.

Ryan tried to keep his eyes on him, but he had to look away as the sun directly behind had risen high enough to be almost level with his head.

The sting from the light made his already hurting head even worse, but he gritted his teeth and squinted at the Lion as he stood before him. The way with light was on him, there was something very familiar about this Lion…

"M-Mufasa?"

A look of surprise filled the lions face, but then he eyed Ryan suspiciously. "Who are you?" He asked. "How do you know my father?"

Not Mufasa, this must have been his son then, what happened last night wasn't a dream after all.

Ryan had so many questions about why he was brought here, but already his world was getting darker and darker, and he could only utter one last word.

"Simba..."

When the strange creature looked unconscious, it was then Simba dared to get closer, leaning down and sniffing at the patch of fur it had on its head.

He had a strange smell, like nothing the Lion could recognize, all around, this animal was something entirely new to the Pride Lands.

He didn't know what he was, and he had no idea how he could possibly know his father.

He suddenly felt something brush up against him and he looked into the blue eyes of his mate, Nala. "What do you think it is, Simba?"

"I have no idea, I don't think I've ever seen anything quite like him before." He answered her.

"I can tell you what that monster is!" a voice suddenly screeched, making the two of them looked up just in time to see their major do no, Zazu, glide down from the air before perching on Simbas' shoulder. "That, sire, is man!"

"Man?" Nala asked.

"I've heard enough tales of them to recognize what they are, they walk tall on their hind legs, dressed in strange things to make up for their pathetic lack of fur." The blue bird explained. "They hunt us animals, not for food, but for fun!"

"They take our fur, our feathers, our teeth and claws all as trophies for their blood sport!" He shot the young man a venomous glare. "Sire, it would be most wise if you would dispose of this creature before he has the chance to wake up and do the same to us!"

"NO! You can't!" Timon suddenly cried, rushing to the humans' side. "Look, I may not know as much about man as Mr. Banana beak over here, no offense,"

Zazu only rolled his eyes.

"But I know that this guy isn't like the ones who supposedly hunt us." Timon stated. "If he was, why throw me up a tree to keep safe from the Hyena's?" He slowly glanced down at the ground, rubbing his neck.

"Why didn't he just leave me?"

"And how would he know my father's name?" Simba asked, sending the man a thoughtful look.

"…We'll take him back to Pride Rock"

"But sire!" Zazu tried to object.

"If he does anything to threaten us, I'll deal with him personally." Simba stated in a voice that said he had made his decision. "But in return for saving a friend, we shall care for him until he is able to walk from his injury."

Zazu still didn't seem to like that idea at all, but all he could do was let out an exasperated sigh. He could never go against the wishes of his King.

"Help me get him on." he instructed his Lionesses and he stooped down before him.  
>A couple of them, plus Nala took mouthfuls of whatever was on the young man's arms and back and slowly pulled him over their Kings back. Once they were sure that he wouldn't fall off, they all headed back to their home. They needed to get him there before it was time for the morning hunt.<p>

"Thanks Simba, I owe you one for coming." Timon said gratefully from his spot on the man's back.

"You should thank Pumbaa," Simba said, sending him a sideways smile. "He got worried when you never met with him to dig up early morning grubs."

"Good ol' Pumbaa," Timon said. "I'm gonna have to find him lots of tasty bugs for lookin' out for my tail."

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><p><strong>Aw, poor Ryan, he's having a bad day. but hopefully it'll look up for him later on...maybe?<strong>

**Let me know what you guys think :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Wow, it's bee _Such_ a long time since I posted another chapter for this story*knocks myself in the head***

**I'm sorry for the long wait guys, but I hope that you enjoy the chapter! :D:D:D:D**

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><p>When Ryan started coming around, he was only aware that he was sore, all over. His head hurt, his back hurt, his skin cells hurt, and his leg especially, that hurt so <em>much<em>.

"Hey, I think he's waking up." a voice said. "Someone needs to inform the King."

Ryan sat up, rubbing his eyes as he felt a splitting head ache coming on. "Who's there?"

"Don't get too close!" another voice warned, 'Remember what Zazu said, he'll skin you alive!"

"Ski-_what_?" Ryan asked, blinking repeatedly to try and erase the blurriness from his vision. "What are you talking abou-" But his voice caught in his throat when he suddenly realized that he was in a huge dark cave surrounded by tons of Lions.

It took a moment for what he was seeing to finally hit him.

"_Aagh!_" He yelled as he propelled himself backwards. But he didn't get very far when he felt himself slap against the rough cave wall. He looked around, trying to find some way of escape

He was literally trapped within the Lions' den.

His chest heaved and his eyes darted left and right as he tried to keep track of every Lions' movement, feeling around for a stick or a rock, _something_ he could use to defend himself with. And he felt a rush of relief when his fingers wrapped around something thick and moderately heavy.

But when he picked it up and saw what it was, that relief was quickly chased away by even more fear to see that it was a large bone from a past meal, stained in red with dried bits of forgotten flesh upon it.

Seeing him as a threat, many of the Lionesses suddenly began to growl. They all heard a portion of horrible tales about humans from Zazu on their way back to Pride Rock, and what they did to animals like themselves. And if this young boy was capable of despicable things like that, then they would forcefully subdue him with or without their King's order should he attack.

Even though he felt a little queasy for holding the remains of a past meal, Ryan knew that it was better then nothing, and he held it before him when he heard the deep growls that the huge cats were emitting, moving to stand to his feet in hopes of using his height to frighten the Lions into backing off. But in the excitement, he'd forgotten all about the nasty bite he had received from the Hyena's, and he let out a howl of pain when he put weight on his left leg.

It was nearly enough to send him back to the ground if he hadn't propped himself against to wall of the cave.

After seeing that he was injured, he noticed that the Lions' were slowly starting towards him. Some of them baring their vicious looking fangs at him that cause his heart to nearly stop.

Was this how it was going to end?

"Hey! Hey! Hey! Easy with that!" a familiar voice said, making Ryan look down from teeth filled muzzles to see a small Meerkat push his way through before him. "C'mon, there's no call for all this!"

"Hey kid, remember me?" he asked. "Hows about we all calm down, put down the Wildebeest femur, and just relax before some get's-"

"What's going on?!" the boy finally yelled, cutting the Meerkat off. "Why am I here?! Where's my camper?!How are you even able to _talk_?! "

'What the heck's going on?!"

"Hehehe, how do you expect answers to all of your questions when you ask so many questions before you receive the answers?" an elderly voice asked, making the Lionesses part a path before the flustered human.

And right beside him was the biggest Lion that Ryan had ever seen. With a golden pelt and a thick red mane and amber colored eyes that were narrowed with weariness and suspicion as he gazed upon the human in his home.

"I am Simba, son of Mufasa and King of the Pridelands." the large Lion stated in a regal tone. "My major Domo has told me that before humans were thought to have closed ears, deaf and dumb to the cries of animals that your kind captures and kills, and yet you spoke my name and that of my fathers."

"I want you to tell me how."

"And you think _I_ know how I can suddenly understand animals?" Ryan asked with a laugh, not fully believing that he was even having this conversation. "All I know is that I found a monkey, I brought the monkey with me to bandage it's arm and then BAM, there's a freaking tornado in my camper and the monkey turns into a Lion before I wake up in the middle of nowhere!"

"You say that Mufasa was your fathers name?" The boy questioned. "Then _you_ tell _me_ why I'm here!"

Simba gave a growl at Ryan's insubordinate tone with him, but he let it pass as he turned to the Baboon that stood beside him.

"Alright Rafiki, find out if he's telling the truth."

"Oh your majesty, how can you expect me to talk with this frightened human with all of these frightened minds in one place? Out, out, out with you all" the old Baboon demanded, making shooing motions with his hands.

With surprised looks on their faces, the Pride all looked to King Simba who in turn seemed a little uncomfortable with what his trusted friend was saying.

"Are you sure that's wise?" Simba asked, his amber eyes glaring at Ryan. "Zazu told me-"

"I am not blind to the cruel deeds of _some_ humans, Simba." the ape started with a smile as he patted the Lion on the shoulder. "I'm not asking you to trust this one, Simba, but continue trusting in old Rafiki."

Simba said nothing for good while, but eventually, he gave a nod. "Very well Rafiki, but if you need me, just let me know." he said, motioning to all the Lionesses to follow him out through the mouth of the cave.

Once they were all gone, Ryan was given little warning before Rafiki's blue and red face was merely inches from his own. Making the boy gasp and knock the back of his head against the rock wall as he tried to move away. "Hey, _whoa_, not so close!" Ryan snapped.

"It has been quite a while since I have seen man wander through the Savannah." Rafiki began, ignoring Ryan's demanded as he began to poke and prod and check Ryan's hair, eyes and teeth."But this is a first to meet one so young, who are you boy? Why would Mufasa bring you to us?"

"Hey man, I have no idea why the guy kidnapped me and brought me here, alright?" Ryan started after he pushed the Baboon's spindly fingers from his face. "I'm just Ryan, Ryan Morris."

"You have been chosen by our past king, and you say you are 'just Ryan'?" Rafiki asked. "Nope, not good enough, try again! What did he tell you?"

"I'm nobody! I don't know why he chose me, of all people; I'm just some punk kid from America staying with his mother while she's here on a job!"

"I'm nothing even worth mentioning and yet he tells me that I'm the one who can save his family or whatever..."

At that, Rafiki sat up, looking at Ryan with thoughtful eyes as he tugged at the tuft of fur that hung at his chin

"You mustn't belittle yourself like this, young Ryan," Rafiki finally told him with a disapproving tsk. "For if you really were 'nothing', then how is it that you were the only one who found that little monkey."

"Well,_ obviously_, it was because I was the only one around that night."

**Bam!**

"_OW!_"

"Wrong!" Rafiki said in a firm voice as he withdrew the melon adorned stick that he had with him while Ryan clutched at the bump forming on his head. "It was because Mufasa saw that you had something _special_."

"You're fear is what is blinding that from you, and unless you have the courage to see past that fear, then you will never understand why King Mufasa brought you here, what he want's you to do."

"And you may never be able to return to the life you had before."

Ryan's eyes widened at Rafiki's last words, never return? Like he was going to be stuck here _forever_?

Anger filled his heart, that wasn't fair! All he did was pick up a monkey and dress it's wounds, he certainly ever _asked_ to be spirited away by a dead Lion away from his mother with nothing but a vague request and no way back to her!

"I don't _know_ what he wants me to do!" He yelled, pushing Rafiki away from him and using the wall to pull himself up.

"He shouldn't have picked me for anything at all because I don't _know _what I can do to help anyone! My _mother_ does!"

"This is so _stupid_!" he growled out. "Yeah _right_ I won't be able to return, I'm leaving right now!"

But as soon as he took a step on his hurt leg, he instantly went down, cringing in pain."Ugh!" he grunted through clenched teeth as he hoped the agonizing burn of the bite would stop.

He jumped when he felt a hand on his shoulder and he looked up to see Rafiki, shaking his his head with a disapproving expression before he helped Ryan sit up with a 'tsk'.

"And how far do you think you will be able to get as you are, hmm?" the old Baboon asked. "With no sense of what direction you want to go and an injured leg that will get worse the more you move, how long do you think it will be before you are picked off by a hungry predator, eh?"

"No, no, you will stay here and you will heal." Rafiki suddenly stated, waving a dismissing hand as he turned away from him and began walking towards the mouth of the cave. "And if by then you still truly believe that you were brought here by mistake, you will be free to go on your way."

Ryan adjusted himself, grumbling angrily and glaring at the skinny little apes' retreating back. "And how do I know I won't get picked off _anyway_ if I stay here?!" he called distrustfully. But Rafiki either didn't hear him, or chose not to answer as his figure disappeared from sight.

...

…

…

Ryan had hard time getting through the remainder of the day, it wasn't long after Rafiki left Ryan alone before the Lions started coming and going either to take napes out of the hot sun or just keep a watchful and _very_ distrustful eye on him.

And Ryan on them.

They never spoke to him, but he did start to notice one Lioness doing more then just stare at him. She was rather old with a dusty colored coat, and tired amber eyes would look at him with a kind light, and every once and a while she would offer a smile and nod her large head towards him.

To which he would quickly look away in a mistrustful huff. He didn't want to be pulled into some kind of trap if she was trying to make him drop his guard.

And just when the daylight began to disappear, and all the daylight he nearly jump out of his skin when a younger lioness suddenly approached him with a good sized slab of meat within her jaws. For a moment, neither of them so much at twitched as they stared at each other.

But finally, she made the first move as she thrust her muzzle and the meat towards him with an impatient growl.

There was something about her, he didn't know...but he didn't like what ever it was. Her coat was a dark cream color with an even darker shade that went down in a sharp strip from the middle of her forehead and along her neck to between her shoulders. And her eyes, they were a most brilliant shade of red.

They would have been so beautiful, if they didn't look at him with such a cold and hateful look.

"I...I can't eat that..." He finally said. "It's raw, so-"

But he didn't get to finish as she whipped away, fast as lightning and prowled across the floor to a trio of cubs that Ryan never even noticed were there.

They must have been her cubs.

One was older, with a dark gray coat that looked rather shabby around his lanky form, like he needed a good bath but hadn't revived one yet. And the other two, one with brown fur and one with light, peach colored fur, they looked like they were only a few weeks old. And she she laid down next to them, she placed the meat callously before the older cub and put her head on her paws so she could go to sleep.

But despite the coldness he received from the Lioness, he briefly wondered if they were any other cubs around. He always had a soft spot baby animals.

He looked at each of the Lionesses as they all began to bed down, but so far, not one of them seemed to be caring for cubs of their own.

Just as he began to feel a bit disappointed, he suddenly noticed that Simba had stepped inside. He stared at Ryan with a hard look for only a moment, then he padded towards a platform that was at the back of a wall were a beautiful Lioness with blue eyes was already waiting for him.

He watched as they nuzzled each other lovingly, and the Lioness slowly parted her paws to revile a tiny little cub with golden fur and he licked to tops of its head before he settled next to her.

After a while, Ryan's ears where met with the sound of steady snores, telling him the the Lions had all finally gone to sleep.

And as much as he wanted to deny it, Ryan felt tired as well. It had been a a very long day, and if he ever wanted to get out of here, then he needed to sleep so he could heal faster.

But even after getting as comfortable as he could on the stone floor, his thin sweater did little to block out the cool breeze that wafted in from the entrance, making him tremble every now and then.

Oh yeah, this was going to be a long night.

"Hello," a voice suddenly said. And he looked over his shoulder to see the old Lioness from before, her warm amber eyes looking down at him as she offered a friendly smile. "I don't think we've properly met, I'm Sarabi."

"Um, Ryan…" he told her, unable to stop a shiver.

"Are you frightened of me, dear?"

"Well, Lions _are_ considered the most dangerous of animals where I'm from..." he told her, earning a chuckle.

"Well, you don't have to worry about me." Sarabi told him honestly. "I'm too old and too tired to do so much as bare my teeth anymore."

At that, Ryan relaxed slightly, but couldn't stop another shiver, this time from the cool night air.

Noticing his discomfort, Sarabi tilted her head at him. "Are you cold Ryan?" she asked.

"I'll be fine." He said, laying his head back down. "You don't have to worry about me."

But not two seconds after he closed his eyes and expected her to leave, he suddenly felt a large body nestle down beside him. "You won't mind if I stay here for the night, will you?" he heard Sarabi asked.

"It's your cave, sleep where you like." Ryan said with a shrug of his shoulders. There was absolutely no way he was gonna tell a freaking_ Lion_ otherwise.

Ryan tried to get comfortable, closing his eyes again, but he jerked in surprise when he suddenly felt something go through his hair. And he realized that it was Sarabi again, running her large, sand paper tongue along his head in long, soothing strokes.

Ryan just laid there for a moment, letting continue to groom his hair before he finally got the nerve to say something. "Why are you being so nice to me?" he asked her, making Sarabi stop. "Don't you hate me, like all the others?"

"I will admit, I was suspicious at first," Sarabi said. "But after I heard how you saved our Timon, they were quelled."

"And anyone who has been chosen by Mufasa, well, I have only complete trust in his judgment."

"You knew him?" Ryan asked her in surprise.

"Very well," Sarabi said with a nod. "He was my mate."

The young fell quiet, since Mufasa was essentially a ghost now, that meant that he..."I'm sorry." he told her sincerely. "That must've been hard for you."

"It's fine, dear, I have long since accepted that I can no longer see him in this life, I am at peace." Sarabi told him.

"Now, why don't you get some rest," she suggested with a warm smile. "You've had a very long day."

Ryan nodded, weariness taking it's toll on him as the shared warmth from Sarabi helped block out the cold. So he nestled back down, using his arm as a pillow.

But after a moment, he suddenly spoke up. "You, you can keep doing that thing you were doing before…"He said, not meeting her eyes as his cheeks flushed from embarrassment. "It…feels nice."

Sarabi said nothing, but she happily complied with his request and started running her tongue over his dark locks once again. The steady, soothing strokes quickly lulling him to sleep.

…

…

…

…

Ryan groaned as he started to come to from a very deep sleep, it felt like he didn't even get any rest at all as something drew him more and more to consciousness. And when he finally made himself open his eyes, he saw that the cave was still dark, and there was no indication that the sun was even _close_ to rising out in the evening sky.

What had woken him up?

It was then, he suddenly noticed that he could feel something was moving at his abdomen, and looking down, he was surprised to see a cub there, kneading his stomach with tiny little paws.

Careful not to wake Sarabi as she slept beside him, Ryan slowly sat up and gently picked up fuzzy infant. "Well hello," he whispered, running his fingers over her soft fur, "What are you doing here?"

It was a baby girl. If he had to guess how old she was, he'd have to say about three, maybe almost four weeks old. She'd occasionally try and open her eyes, but it seemed like she still couldn't quite see well and she'd immediately close them back up; and her ears weren't fully open just yet.

He looked over to were he last saw the young Lioness with the three cubs, but in that darkness, he could make out four bodies including her own, all sound asleep.

That meant that the one she belonged to was Simba and his mate, who were sleeping on the platform across a snoring mass claws and fangs.

Ryan considered just waiting until morning to give her back to her mother, but if she got hungry, then there wouldn't be anything he could do for her. So with a heavy sigh, Ryan cradled the baby Lion to his chest and started to crawl as quietly as he could around all the Lioness that slept heavily.

There were some instances were he thought he was done for as he almost crawled over a couple of tails, one Lioness even hugged her huge paws around his leg. Not his injured one, thank goodness, but after carefully pulling himself out of her grasp he finally made it to the platform.

Ever so quietly, Ryan continued on his way until he was directly beside the infants mother before and there he gently began to move her small, fuzzy body towards her.

"I'm Queen Nala." a voice suddenly said, making him jump before he met the crystal blue eyes of the Lioness he was trying to place the cub next to. "What are you doing with my daughter?"

"I...I'm sorry," he began, trying to keep his voice in a whisper, his heart racing as he tried to quickly tell her what happened. "I just woke up and she was by me, I didn't want her there!"

He gasped when he realized how rude that was, and he tried fix it. "Nothing against her or anything, she's very cute, anyone would wanna have her, _Gah_, Not that I want to take her away from you!"

He finally stopped, his face red as all the words he said raced in his mind, making him want to kick himself. "Just..._here_." he finally told her, holding her cub to her.

Nala only looked at him for a moment, then she let out an amused hum, reaching her limber neck out and gently taking her daughter by the scruff.

After she nestled her baby between her paws, she gave her a comforting lick over the infants head. "Our little Kiara is surprisingly adventurous for one so young, I guess that means she's going to be quiet the handful...just like her father." She said before meeting his gaze once again with a grateful and kindly smile.

"Try to go back to sleep, Ryan, Simba won't be too happy to see you so close should he wake up."

Ryan gave a nod, quickly and quietly returning to his place beside Sarabi and got as comfortable as he could. But he just laid there, the excitement from what happened before keeping him awake.

Maybe with Lions like Sarabi and Nala around, his time here while he healed would be a little more bearable.

* * *

><p><strong>I'm sorry if this chapter seems a little rushed, guys, I wanted to get this chapter done before tomorrow. Gonna be a bit busy XP.<strong>

**Also, if any of you are wondering why Kiara can't open her eyes at the moment, that's because that has to do with really the _only_ problem that I had with the movies.**

**At the beginning of the two movies it always starts out with the presentation of the new prince and princess, telling me that they were shown before their subjects the day they were born. I've read that a lion cub won't be able to open their eyes until 10 or 14 days after being born, maybe even sooner, so it's always bothered me that Simba and Kiara had their eyes open immediately after they were born.**

**I could be horribly wrong on how old they were during the time of their presentations, but that's how it seemed to me, so, in my story I fix. X)**

**I hope you enjoyed the chapter guys, I'll try to get more written up!**


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